Sleepless night
by reginleif-valkyrie
Summary: Emily can't sleep and she runs into Trellis. Both reflect on their ideas of the other. It's an EmilyXTrellis, but it's not, you know, creepy.


**As usual, I don't own a thing. Also, I'm super excited because a fan drew me a picture based on this. If you're interested, you have to go to deviant art and look for me Reginleif-Valkyrie.**

Emily tossed and turned in her bed. She couldn't fall asleep. This was a recurring thing. Ever since she came to Alledia, everything seemed like a walking nightmare. When she could sleep, those too were nightmares. She couldn't escape them anywhere.

Giving up on trying to get some shut eye, Emily climbed out of bed and decided to walk around the ship. Maybe she could wear herself out, work off some of her stress.

She walked around mindlessly, no real destination in mind.

When walking didn't feel like it was working, Emily decided to get some fresh air. She opened one of the outside doors and found Trellis leaning on the railing. She thought about finding a different place, but took a step out.

Without turning to her, Trellis asked. "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Emily went to the railing a little bit away from the dark elf.

He shrugged. "I've never really slept much."

With that tiny bit of conversation out of the way, they both fell silent.

Emily rested her crossed arms on the railing, her chin on her forearm. She felt so depressed right now. This whole stupid amulet thing and saving the Alledia world was just too much. She had saved her mother like she wanted to, now she just wanted to go home. Go back to her normal, boring life. This was all so hard and confusing. She was never going to get the hang of how to use the dumb amulet right. Why did it have to pick her of all people?

The young girl sniffed slightly and wiped at her eyes. She couldn't believe she was tearing up like a little baby. This whole thing wouldn't feel so hard if she had someone she felt she could rely on. Sure she had her family and all the new friends she'd made, but she didn't feel like they understood what she was going through. It was like she had to hold the burden on her shoulders all by herself.

A rough chill blew by. Emily shivered despite her long sleeves. It bite right through it. "Brrr." She could feel Trellis' gaze quickly turn to her. She immediately regretted not bringing her cloak. Trellis had been smart, he had worn his.

This whole place was so weird to her. Even the clouds seemed different.

From those very clouds, a flock of strange birds emerged. They were like none Emily had ever seen before. They were large, like the size of a bald eagle, and they looked extremely dangerous. The beaks were sharply pointy and she swore she could see bits of blood on them. Black feathers completed the terrifying appearance, but what really struck Emily as odd, was she knew she saw instead of tail feathers, long lizard like tails complete with scales.

"What the?" She breathed aloud.

"They're called 'Reptle Birds'." Trellis' voice was almost drowned out by the wind.

"Rep..tle..birds?" Emily turned her head to him.

"Yes, they don't bother humans unless threatened. They eat the other, smaller birds that call this place home."

"Hmm." Emily wondered. If you weren't really listening, you'd think he'd said reptile birds. It'd make sense, since they had those lizard tails, but Emily doubted they named them like that.

"_You should kill those birds_" The amulet spoke in her head. "_Kill them, it'll feel so good."_

"Shut up!" Emily found herself yelling out loud. She caught Trellis' gaze and immediately felt silly. She blushed from embarrassment. Did he really have to look at her like that?

"It's talking to you, isn't it?" Trellis asked. Emily cocked an eyebrow. "The amulet, it's talking to you in your head."

"Y...yeah, how'd you know?"

Trellis shrugged lamely. "As I said before, my amulet told me to find you. Your's isn't the only one that speaks."

"Do you know?" She paused. "Do you know how to make it stop?"

Trellis shook his head sadly. "Mine doesn't hinder me as your's seems to. Perhaps it doesn't see you fit to have it. Try mastering it."

Emily frowned. Master the amulet? She was trying her best and it still seemed impossible. She wasn't getting any better, despite what everyone else said.

"You really suck at using your powers." Trellis informed her.

"I know that!" She snapped. "You didn't have to point it out, you jerk!" She turned away crossing her arms in a huff. She felt stupid and childish, but it was too late to take it back.

"You're too emotional." Trellis said. "Your emotions get the better of you and you can't fully concentrate on what you're doing. You won't master the amulet that way."

Emily wheeled around to glare at him. "If you hadn't noticed, I'm doing my best." She stamped her foot. "Don't act all high and mighty because you can use your's perfectly."

Trellis actually smiled slightly. "Years and years of practice. Despite what I look like, I'm actually quite old."

"Oh, like how old?"

"I don't really know. We elves live longer than humans. I've lost track of my age. Keeping track seems really pointless." He leaned his back on the railing, his elbows resting on it. "Besides, I have memories of getting my amulet, so that means it wasn't that long ago I got it."

Emily chewed on her bottom lip. She felt some pity for the scarred elf. Having no memories of your past? That had to be tough. Though painful at times, Emily wouldn't trade her memories for anything.

The wind blew again, less chilling than last time. The wind caught Trellis' hair and it fanned out slightly, some of it returning to rest over his shoulders.

She couldn't help but stare at it. His hair was white as fresh snow and it seemed well taken care of. It was healthy and shiny. It looked great against his ashen skin color. Then there were his eyes. They only seemed to have pupils, she soon realized his eye color was white like his hair. They were creepy at first, but after awhile, Emily thought they looked kind of cool.

Despite his rough and prickly exterior, Trellis was actually a nice guy. He was looking after Luger even though he had no real reason to. He had wanted to protect her friends for her when the wyverns attack. Though she didn't want to admit it, if she'd have let him, Miskit and Cogsley would still be here. He was strong, well trained, he was way beyond her capabilities. There was no way she'd ever be his equal. He was like an unreachable goal. He wasn't just strong in body, he was strong in mind as well. The elf king maybe dead, or something of that nature, but he still had a body that moved and it still belonged to Trellis' father. She could never do that. Trellis had to have such courage.

Emily always thought of elves as being slim and lanky, frail even, like in the Lord of the Rings movies, but Trellis was far from that. He was broad and muscular and obviously wasn't frail if he had that huge scar on his face. She smiled slightly. He looked pretty cool in truth, handsome even.

She caught herself. Did she just think Trellis was handsome? Where the heck had that thought come from? He'd tried to kill her, though it was only that one time. He'd even saved her a few times. He wasn't a knight in shinning armor, but more like a knight in rusty armor.

This thought made her laugh. Trellis gave her a weird look. She was odd to him. He'd never met a girl like her before. Elven women were just as roothless as the men. Not very attractive in his opinion. Emily was different though. She had risked everything to save her mother, any elf would have left their mother to die. Emily showed compaction, a trait that would get her killed if she wasn't careful. But she was strong too. She wasn't at her full potential yet, but Trellis could see she was destined to be strong, even if it wasn't for the amulet. However, all of that would mean nothing if she didn't have two of the most important things for a warrior: courage and determination. Oh yes, she had both. She had demonstrated that time and time again.

There was more to that girl that intrigued him. She had such raw emotion, something Trellis hadn't seen before. It was fun to watch her moods swing from anger to sorrow to joy. It was also fun to annoy her and get her wild reactions, though Trellis would never admit it. She was merely cute now, she was still a young child, but judging from her mother, Emily would be beautiful when she got older, actually, she'd be more so. She wouldn't have that naive look in her eyes like her mother did. No, Emily's eyes would hold vast knowledge that no one could copy. Her eyes would be different than any body else's. Emily would no doubt grow into a strong, independent woman.

Trellis liked that thought. He knew he'd never get to see the adult Emily, but it was a nice thought. Any man would be lucky to take her as his wife. Thinking that sent jealousy into Trellis' heart. Who ever that man was, he'd never be good enough for her. She was too special for a 'normal' person. She needed someone that matched her. Someone she could rely on, someone that could stand beside her, not behind her. She needed someone...

"_Like_ _you_?" His amulet asked.

Woah, woah, woah. Trellis put a stop to that. "_What the hell are you talking about?_"

"_My dear Trellis, how like you to deny something so deep within you."_

_ "Let's say I did like Emily, and I don't mind you, it would be impossible to be with her. Once she's done here, she'll go back to her world. The world she belongs in."_ Suddenly, Trellis' heart ached. When Emily did finally go home, he'd never see her again. He felt saddened by that.

A third wind blew strongly by. This was by far colder than the other two.

Emily hugged herself and shivered. Going back inside was best, but she didn't feel like going in yet. Despite how cold it was, it was nice out here.

Unexpectedly, arms and a cloak wrapped around her shoulders and there was a warm body behind her. It was Trellis.

Emily's body froze in surprise. Was he really doing this? There was no way he'd be doing this without some kind of evil idea behind it, right?

She found herself leaning into his chest. He was without his armor, so he was actually pretty soft. She could hear his heart beating. It was a steady rhythm, a calming rhythm. Emily smiled turning so she could press closer to him. She didn't know why she was doing this, but it felt nice, almost even safe. Since the first time she'd been here, she felt at ease.

It was now that she realized, she wasn't truly alone. Trellis could relate to her amulet problems, he had gone through similar experiences.

She rubbed her cheek against his chest. She felt really sleepy all of a sudden. Unable to fight it, Emily drifted off to sleep leaning against Trellis' body.

The elf prince looked down at her. She was so small, so frail. If she was going to make it to the end, she'd need someone to watch out for her and Trellis knew that he'd be at her side until that end.

His rough hand gently stroked her hair. Someday she'd leave, but until then, Trellis was going to make the most of the time they had left.


End file.
